About us

Monolith Vintners is the continuation of a family history that dates back to the pioneering days of winemaking in South Australia, the story began in 1835 prior to the proclamation of the colony on 29th December 1836 aboard the brigantine Duke of York. The ship, carrying settlers to the fledgling colony South Australia, met up with the HMS Buffalo, sailing to South Australia via Buenos Aires. In 1837 a land order was taken out for the Province of South Australia and the founding family of wine arrived in Adelaide on the Katherine Stewart Forbes on 7th October 1837. At this time only 176 people were in the colony including the surveyor Colonel William Light.

Early plantings included Pedro Ximenez, Shiraz and Grenache which thrived in the deep alluvial soil and Mediterranean climate. South Australia’s first commercial wine was born in 1841 and was sold to nearby farmers and towns gradually expanding to door to door sales by horse and cart. The launch of “Chablis” dry white made from the Pedro grape variety changed the wine industry forever and the blend of Pedro and Verdelho to create a semi sweet white “Moselle” created Australia biggest selling wine for the next 50 or so years. Monolith Vintners brings a wealth of history and grape growing and winemaking knowledge together developed over 170 years, the selection of only the finest old vine vineyards in the Barossa some over 150 years of age means our wines are produced in minuscule quantities governed only by the yields produced by these selected sites, our winemaking techniques incorporate new and old world styles and our wines receive only the finest hand treatment from vine to bottle, we hand pick, destem, basket press, hand plunge, leave on skins for an extended period, barrel age and bottle age for an extensive period of time creating wines wines of incredible quality showcasing the best of the Barossa Valley Winemaking.